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“Birdie, tomorrow night, he’s in the dog bed. I’m not going to be taking you in the middle of the night, and Rocky chooses that moment to get excited and interrupt our time.” The last thing I want is to be taking Birdie from behind when Rocky gets a wild hair up his ass. Nope, not even going there.
“Fine, he’ll go in the dog bed tomorrow night. Love you, Lane, forever,” she says quietly.
“Love you, too, Birdie, always.”
18
BIRDIE
“Rocky, come on, boy.”I clap my hand on my thigh, trying to get his attention. He’s fully embracing his life on a ranch. He’s also learning to sleep on his dog bed at night, at least when Lane is home. I’ve yet to tell him Rocky gets on our bed every morning when he leaves to start his day. By the time Lane is back for breakfast, we’re out of bed and he is none the wiser. “You’re going to get swiped at little, buddy. The barn cats aren’t to be messed with. I’d hate to have to take you to see Auntie Tully this early in the morning.” My dog has a mind of his own. The little dude is only twenty pounds, but he’s full of obstinance and thinks he’s Billy Badass.
“Aunt Tully is off the clock, Rocky, so come on.” Tallulah opens the back door to Lane’s parents’ house. She’s still settling into her new place and waiting for the moving company tobring our furniture. We had a fully functional apartment with furniture plus accessories, all in good condition. The greenhouse quite literally had the bare essentials, so Tully has been hanging with Mom. Today, I was going to go over to Lane’s parents, and she’s yet to watch the inner workings of the Johnson ranch. We’re going to have lunch, talk shop, and go from there. I already know what my mom is going to say. She wants zero part of technology. Eleanor Robertson feels most at home in her fields of flowers. She likes to joke that she’s technologically challenged and, well, I tend to agree with her. Needless to say, she’ll tell me to do whatever I want and ask me the price along with the monthly installment to keep it up to date. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
The harder part will be the Johnsons’ website, making sure the checkout aspect works how they’d like it, and when there’s more than one person in on the conversation, it can get tricky. This is why I suggested she and I meet together first, then she could take everything back to the family to discuss how they want to proceed. Their website now has updated prices and the option to contact them via email or contact form. There’s also another option to outsource to a call center, where a company can dispatch issues or orders in a timely manner. The price is a bit steeper, and the maintenance is a bit more, as well as making sure that a flood of customers doesn’t bog their site down.I can adjust my rate a bit because they are family, after all, but I know the Johnsons; they won’t take a handout. Completely understandable. I’m still swallowing my pride due to Lane pushing me in this direction and not getting it on my own.
“Come here, Rocky. Grammy Elie has a treat for you.” She walks out with Mrs. Catherine. Tully’s shoulders shake with laughter, and I roll my eyes.
“Imagine your mom with grandbabies. They’ll be hopped up on sugar the entire time they’re with her.” Tully knocks into my shoulder. We will both have some free time after the meeting and lunch. So I figure now is as good a time as any to give her the lay of the Johnson land as well as formally introduce all of the brothers.
“Bite your tongue. The two of them would go rabid.” I move away from Tully after we give one another a side hug, then approach Mom. She has Rocky eating the treat out of the palm of her hand while she’s got him in her arms, and I do the same to her.
“Little traitor.” I rub the top of his head.
“Speaking of, where’s Case?” I ask Catherine as she comes to stand beside Mom. I immediately give her a hug, and her hand cups my cheek.
“He’s napping, but don’t worry. The second he hears chitter-chatter and so much as sniffs the air and smells food, he’ll be wide awake.”
“That sounds entirely like Ryland.” When I’d be over here on the rare occasions with Lane,we’d walk in, and Ry would be stuffing his face with the first available thing that was edible.
“You got that right, except Case sleeps through the night, whereas Ryland never did. Now he’s getting his payback tenfold. Enough about that. Come in, come in.” Mrs. Johnson holds the door open for us. Mom is the leader of the pack with Rocky in her hands, Tully is in the middle, and I’m the caboose.
“Wow, I always wondered how you’d feed and house six men. I can see it now,” Tully says as we walk inside the house. The room opens up to the kitchen, and off to the side is a massive dining room table with eight chairs. I know from spending time here that it can seat way more than that. There’s also an island almost the length of the kitchen for extra seating.
“It wasn’t easy, but we made it through. Drinks are on the counter, the food is ready to eat, and then we’ll get down to business,” Catherine says just as Case starts squirming through the baby monitor. I watch the screen, ignoring the chatter behind me. Catherine mentioned he’d be up as soon as he heard any type of movement, so now, I’m waiting for my opportunity to have some baby time with Case. When I saw him the other day, my body didn’t allow me to do so much as lift my laptop bag. Now, days later, I’m in much better shape.
“Birdie,” Catherine calls my name. I look over my shoulder.
“Yes?” She walks toward me, so my gaze returns to the monitor. He’s squirming around now, making soft little cooing noises.
“It’s killing you to watch and not sneak into his room, isn’t it?” she asks.
“So much.” I’m wringing my fingers, and I’ve practically got ants in my pants.
“Go get him, but if he’s too heavy to lift while you’re recuperating, don’t do it. The last thing I need is Lane hollering,” she says as I drop my laptop bag to the floor.
“I won’t. Promise.” Catherine squeezes my hand gently before I head into Case’s room, ready to get some baby cuddles.
“So,are you happy with how things are turning out, business-wise, I mean? It’s clear as day Lane will have you knocked up in no time,” Tully says as we walk toward the calving area. They’ve separated the calves from their moms in order to vaccinate and brand them. There are too many times a cow will be found on the side of the road or in a different pasture, especially in these parts.
“It looks like we missed the worst of it,” I tell Tully. “And yeah, I mean, the Johnsons still have to go over everything to make sure they’re okay with the money side of business. I’m worried I’ll be charging them too much, honestly. I mean, Lane and I are a forever kind of deal. Shouldn’t Ibe doing this for free?” This battle has been waging inside of me ever since Lane brought it up. While, yes, it took me a full day to do the Johnsons’ and my mom’s website, it was more fun than it was work.
“Um, hello? This is me here. I’d do anything for free except refuse a job that was given to me.” She waves her hands around in front of us as if there’s more news than she’s letting on.
“Who gave you a job offer?” The last we spoke, she was still looking at options. The vet in town seems to always be hiring. Though that speaks volumes in itself. Who would want to work at an office with a revolving door?
“No one, promise. My parents offered to give me money to start my own practice, and it rubbed me the wrong way. I told them no, and they said well, how about a loan? Now I’m all jumbled in my head. It would make the best business sense, but it’s a lot of money. A lot of what-ifs to think about,” my best friend admits.
“For what it’s worth, I think a loan would be a great idea. I know there’s a lot to think about and numbers to run. It might be worth it in the long run.” I knock her shoulder with mine. Rocky is running in front of us, sniffing the air, chasing after birds, only for them to get away and for him to bark in annoyance.
